


New Friends

by The_Weird_One_Won



Category: Hiveswap, Homestuck
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Disguise, F/F, F/M, M/M, Makeover, Mutual Pining, On the Run, Quadrant Confusion, Quadrant Vacillation, Reader-Insert, Strong Language, Uncomfortable Flirting, Wrestling, also because i recently watched laureledeevees' hiveswap series, awkward coming to terms with feelings, big angry drones, byers is here, eating grubs, fights in alleys, i'm naming dammek's lusus babmi because i'm lazy, just a lot of general awkwardness, mentioned nudity - not descriptive, quadrant flipping, reader gets hit on and everyone hates it, sewer trekking, spoilers: major love interest is xefros, talk of canibalism, trying my best to make sure to tag any triggers for people, would be terrifying irl, zebruh is a dick and a flirt as always
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-06-04 20:03:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15154598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Weird_One_Won/pseuds/The_Weird_One_Won
Summary: Oh god, what the heck is even going on anymore? First, your house gets invaded by monsters, then you get sucked through a portal to an alien planet, and now you're on a mission, and the run. You're not exactly sure where to or what for, but your new friend Xefros has your back, right? You face the unknown and dare it to throw everything it's got at you....You regret doing so.





	1. Crushed!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, my second xReader fic. So, in order to move the story along, I kinda made reader into an OC of my own, just so it's not just straight up Joey and already her own character?? If that makes sense??? Reader has a name and other details that will be revealed in-story, and while I'm trying to keep them pretty vague or unimportant, some later on will have to be a little more specific.  
> Now, chapter 1. I plan on making quite a few, idk how many though. I don't have a beta for this, so even though I've combed this thoroughly, there may still be a typo or two which I implore you to tell me about because there comes a point where I just don't see them anymore. I promise, you won't sound like a jerk. Also, I know it's short, but all of the others are longer. I've already written out several chapters ahead, but I'm debating on whether each chapter should be from Reader's POV, or if it should switch every other chapter between Reader and Xefros. As of right now, I have the POV switching, but if you guys want them all to be from yours I can do that too. Thanks for checking this out, and you can find me on my Tumblr under http://the-weird-one-won.tumblr.com! I love you all!
> 
> Edit: i gave up on the chapter names  
> 

"Oh my god, Xefros!" The rubble in front of you shifted at your new alien friend waved his arm at you. It suddenly froze and withered back to the pile as a groan leaked out from between the concrete.

"Ow, uh, hi, Jaci... I'm ok... ow..." You rushed to his 'lusus''s side and tried to remove some of the rubble, but it seemed even his giant lusus was struggling.

"W-what do I do?" He mentioned earlier that he was losing blood, you needed to get him out! That hoverpad was supposed to help, but you didn't really know how to make it work, you just pressed a button and it did stuff last time. You didn't want to accidentally hurt him!

His voice drifted up through the cracks, muffled by all the concrete. "Yeah, just, uh, deploy the hoverpad and toggle the capture modus to my location, then press that big button in the center." You looked at the control panel in horror. There were tons of dials and buttons and slidy doohickeys and one big red button in the very center. Your heart sank.

"How do I do that?!"

"You- uh, you just kinda put your hand down on the biggest button there...?"

"I know how to do that! I meant how do I toggle the capture modum?" You twisted a dial, but it didn't seem to do anything.

"You mean 'modus'? Uh, you see that button with the circle on it?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't press it. Press the one next to it." You stopped your finger right as you touched the button, thankfully not putting any weight behind it. The only other button touching it was one with a little square, so you pushed that one. The viewscreen came to life and showed what looked like an infrared image of the rubble pile with Xefros in the center and a readout on either side that you didn't bother to read.

"Now what?"

"See the little swirly dial to the right of the viewscreen?" You didn't touch it this time.

"Yes."

"Twist it until my body is highlighted on the viewscreen." You put your hand on the dial and twisted it around until you could see that the body in the middle of the rubble was faintly glowing yellow more than it was before.

"Ok!"

"Now press the big red button!" You practically slammed your palm onto the button in your excitement, but that was ok. A bright beam came out of the hoverpad like before and shot straight into the rubble, picking Xefros up and pulling him out, dropping him on the ground bedside the ruined balcony as soon as he was free. You ran to his side and looked him over as he gasped, checking for cuts and wounds, but you only saw a couple on his arms and legs. He pulled himself up and pushed you towards the newly named Bambi. "Come on, we have to go," he coughed. You helped him into the saddle and looked back at him when you felt something tugging on your jacket. You saw that Xefros was gripping it, but he quickly crossed his arms to his chest with a bright blush, clearly embarrassed and probably unsure if that was ok.

"Hey, it's ok," you said on instinct, but in hindsight it probably didn't help much. You looked towards his lusus, but it seemed to have disappeared. "Hey, what about your lusus?" He cast his eyes down with a pained look.

"He can't keep up, we have to go quickly. He'll be ok, and he knows I will, too." He looked up at you. "Please, if we stay here much longer, we might draw their attention," he said, glancing around him at the few drones left, still destroying what they could. You nodded resolutely and patted Bambi on the neck to let him know you were ready and he took off like a flash, speeding down the empty road and leaving a wake of dust behind him.

As you both raced through the wilderness, you took in the view, breathing out a silent breath of awe at the stunning landscape. You couldn't believe that something so dark and dangerous could also be so beautiful. The two moons, one pink and the other green, shined down on you, and you were reminded of how alien this whole situation was. Still, it was gorgeous, and you wanted to capture the memory. You urged Bambi to stop and took out Dammek's tablet, which you kept because you didn't know if you would need it later or not, and flashed a quick photo of you and Xefros, catching him by surprise. He saw the picture, and at first he smiled, but then you both noticed the gIANT FLYING CRAB THING and he freaked, bouncing on the saddle and poking your elbows. "Shit shit shit shit we need to go now!" You didn't know what the problem was, but if it had anything to do with the drones, you didn't want any part of it. You tapped your feet against Bambi's sides and he took off again, this time with Xefros gripping your jacket and not even caring that he was.


	2. Shelter

Xefros squinted at the pink glow of the rising sun as it grazed the peaks of the far mountains. They were trying to get to Grubspent, a nice rest stop on the way to where Zebede lived. They were a firm believer in the rebellion and a great supporter. Xefros knew they would help, and at this point they were their best hope. So, here he and Jaci were, on the back of Tetrarch Dammek's Cuspidated Grimalkin, and desperately needing a place to hide from both the Heiress' ship and now the bright, burning sun of Alternia.

Jaci gasped at the sunrise, and Xefros panicked at the quiet "Wow" she murmured. No, this was not a "wow" moment! This was an "OH MY GOD WE'RE GOING TO DIE" moment! They weren't too far from Outglut yet, so Xefros quickly told her to stop - well, told is a strong word. He patted at her back until she slowed down and he repeatedly gestured at the trees with a shaky hand. She seemed to have gotten the message because she veered Tetrarch Dammek's lusus into the trees.

"What's wrong?! I thought we were running from that thing in the sky!" Xefros tugged on her jacket and slid off the saddle, trying to pull her with him back towards Outglut. She squawked and fell out of the saddle into a very disgraceful pile on the ground and yelped when he started to drag her behind him as he ran through the trees and away from the sun. Gog, he couldn't believe he forgot what time it was! They could die! He paused in his running, taking a moment to look around him for shelter. "What the heck, Xefros!?" Jaci took advantage of his pause to pull herself off the ground.

 _There_. Xefros just grabbed her hand and continued to drag her through the trees towards a dark hole in the side of the sloping hill leading up to the edge of the outskirts of Outglut, or what he knew to be a sewer drain. They broke the treeline with a flourish, Tetrarch Dammek's lusus chasing after them, the sun just barely peeking over the mountains. The sewer was just a few meters away, they could make it! Jaci's grunts sounded behind him, and he could feel the sun beginning to sting his skin.

_Just a little further..._

"Xefros! I can't!" Jaci's tugging on his arm made him falter just slightly. She looked so panicked, shaking her head with a scared look, tugging against his grip and staring at the entrance to the sewer. He tugged some more, but she didn't want to budge. Xefros frantically looked to the rising sun, but he no longer could, it was so bright. Oh, he really didn't want to do this...

"Sorry!" Xefros swept her off her feet, tossing her over his shoulder and running into the drain.

"No, wait!" she yelled, grabbing at his back with her stubby claws and kicking her fronds, "I can't go on there!"

"I'm really sorry!" He dove into the sewer as fast as he could, Tetrarch Dammek's lusus close behind. Jaci clung to his shoulders and shivered as he dodged trash in the leaking trickle of water. Once he was satisfied that they were far enough out of the sun, Xefros slowed and lowered Jaci slightly to hold her in his arms. He was unusually strong, after all, it was no problem for him. She continued to shiver against him, refusing to remove her face from the crook of his chug column and tickling his own with her frantic breaths. A walkway developed in the side, following the path of the water, and after not too long, a small alcove appeared. Inside it were a few industrial bins, some cardboard boxes, and... A really old cup of coffee. Huh. Xefros tried to set Jaci down on the ground, but she wrapped her legs around his waist and shook her head.

"I...ot le..ng go, X..ros," she mumbled.

"What?" Xefros tried to shake her off while Tetrarch Dammek's lusus sniffed the ancient coffee.

Jaci shook her head some more. "I'm not letting go, Xefros."

"W-what? Why not?" Xefros walked over to one of the bins and dried to scrape her off, but she yelped and jumped further up his arm as soon as it touched her.

"Long story involving a dare and a rat and _lots_ of regret. Conclusion, I don't do sewers!" she squeaked.

What in the world was a rat?

A coo came from her pocket and out popped a little blue think pan. Jaci turned to look at it and gasped. "Byers!" She wiggled and whined and considered her options, finally settling on grabbing what looked to be her very tiny lusus and snuggling her face to it next to Xefros' chug column as is gently pecked at her hair. While she was distracted, Xefros slipped her out of his arms and onto the bin, making her shriek. He put his hands up over her mouth to quiet her, but she only squirmed more.

An ominous clang sounded down the sewer and, in a panic with few options left, Xefros slipped behind her and cupped a hand over her mouth, hiding them both behind the pile of bins. The quiet and droning hum grew in volume until, finally, a drone stomped its way into their alcove. Jaci panicked and breathed heavily into Xefros' hand, but just before it was able to see them, Tetrarch Dammek's lusus leapt out from behind the cardboard boxes and pounced on it, dispatching it with one swift blow to its mechanical chug column joint and then tearing into its body tube. Jaci continued to shake, and in an effort to hush her, Xefros tried to shush-pap her - but just to get her to be quiet! That's all! She sputtered and tried to swipe his hands away at first, while he was painfully aware of how _pale_ this was, but after a while, she calmed down enough to breathe normally.

Tetrarch Dammek's lusus shook a spare bolt from his fur and padded over to the two - well, three of them, sniffing them and making heavy chuffing noises at them, which Xefros knew meant something along the lines of "you're ok," "I will protect you," and "glad you're alive and well." Affection, or at least as much was capable without it getting weird. A guardianly affection. He swiped a large lick across Jaci's face and she immediately giggled, unable to be upset with him around.

Xefros tucked his hands to his sides and watched as she slowed her breathing, calming herself with the presence of her and Tetrarch Dammek's lusii. "Sorry," she finally muttered. She slouched her shoulders and looked at the floor, scrunching her cartilaginous nub in a really- not-cute way. Nope, definitely not cute. "Like I said, I don't do sewers very well..."

Xefros nodded in understanding, even though he really didn't understand. She petted Tetrarch Dammek's lusus on the snout, making him purr. "Thanks, Bambi."

"'Bambi'?"

"Yeah, 'Bambi." That's his name."

Xefros knit his eyebrows together in confusion. "But his name is Deercat."

Tetrarch Dammek's lusus raised his think pan at the sound of his name coming from a familiar voice, but Jaci just shrugged. "We have a different bond than he and Dammek did. I think that calls for a new name." Xefros also didn't really understand this either, but he supposed that was ok. Whatever made her happy. Xefros looked at the downed drone, getting creeped just by looking at it. He shivered.

"You should rest," he said, trying to change the subject.

"I'm not sure I can," but she yawned despite herself. "Bambi" curled around her and tried to lick her face in a comforting manner, but with her struggling to free herself from the grasp of a 1000-something-pound Cuspidated Grimalkin, she only succeeded in messing up her hair. Xefros laughed at her frustrated frown and slid back to lean against the wall. Bambi gave him a sniff and chuffed at him before going back to his previous grooming of his new charge.

"I suppose I can't really fight it, can I?" Jaci asked. Xefros only laughed in response. A warm ball of fluff was suddenly in his face and on his head, surprising everyone. Jaci laughed, as it seemed her lusus had climbed onto his think pan and snuggled into his hair right between his two large horns. It was currently preening his hair, gently pecking with its dull beak and rearranging his hair to fit its wants. Xefros reached up to pull him down, but Byers pecked rapidly at his hands and flapped, making Jaci say, "I suppose you can't really fight it either," around a giggle.

Bambi purred loudly and laid his think pan in Jaci's lap, effectively trapping her for the night. "I guess we should get some sleep after all," she mused. She snuggled into Bambi's chug column and sighed deeply, a small smile playing on her lips as she ran her fingers through his white fur. Xefros leaned back and laid his think pan on Bambi's haunch, grateful for all of Tetrarch Dammek's sleep training.

♦♥♦♥♦

Xefros woke up to Jaci vigorously shush-papping him, her face floating above his almost dangerously. Xefros sat up quickly, knocking Byers off of his think pan and nearly hitting Jaci in the chin with his forehead in his nervous panic. He was blushing furiously, and he knew it oh-so-painfully well. Jaci's worried eyes followed him and tried to comfort him some more, but he shyed away from her hands and held his own arms. "I'm sorry," he muttered, "I'm really sorry..." Oh god, this is so pale, why is this so pale, did she even know what she was doing??? What would Tetrarch Dammek think abou-

"Xefros!" Pale hands were on his flaming face, becoming covered in a pale red liquid - his tears, he realized - and wiping at his cheeks. Jaci tried to shush-pap him again, but he bared his teeth at her, scaring her away.

"Stop," he growled at her, "don't you know what you're doing?! I'm sorry, I already have a moirail!" Her frightened face made it obvious that she either didn't know or was surprised to be spurned anyway.

"What the heck is a 'moirail' and why does that matter?! I'm just doing what you did earlier to calm me down! You were screaming and crying!" Xefros sputtered through his tears, at a loss of what to say and wanting to apologise again even in his frightened anger.

"I-i-it's just-" he whined, "it's just too pale," he turned away from her, facing the wall and letting a few more tears trail down his cheeks. Jaci sighed and sat next to him at a short distance, crossing her fronds and holding her hands together.

"Ok, obviously this is some kind of cultural misunderstanding," she began, "so, please, full me in. What did I do?" Xefros sighed, opening and closing his mouth like he was being strangled by a subjugulator, but unable to start. "It's ok, take your time."

He sighed again. "The shush-papping, the thing you were doing; it's a thing that only moirails do. I already have one."

"You mean that Dammek dude?" she asked.

"Yeah, Tetrarch Dammek."

Jaci made a "hmm" noise and was silent for a minute. "What did you mean when you said, 'It's too pale'?" Xefros blushed even brighter than he was - somehow - and buried his face in his hands.

"You don't know about quadrants, do you?" he mumbled, peeking out at her from between his fingers. Jaci shook her head. Xefros groaned and turned to face her, but still looked at the floor. He really didn't want to be the one to tell her this stuff. Why did aliens have to be so clueless?! Xefros sighed, though, because it wasn't really her thought. He wasn't going to stop to think about how many alien customs he didn't understand from her world. Instead, he drew a big square in the soot on the concrete floor, then two more crisscrossing lines inside, like a window. Inside these, he drew a heart, a diamond, a club, and a spade, one to a box. He pointed to each in turn.

"These are the four quadrants. Each represents a different aspect of troll romance," he explained. He gestured to the rectangle containing the heart and the parallelogram, saying, "These are the redrom quadrants," then he pointed to the other two, "and these are blackrom. Romance is based off of two emotions, hate and pity. Red is pity, and black is hate. Simple. "

Jaci looked like she didn't think it was simple, but she nodded anyway.

Xefros pointed to the redrom rectangle. "The heart is for matespritship, that is, trolls who pity each other and are a couple. The ones who will..." He trailed off and blushed brightly, "Well, you get the idea." He pointed to the prallelogram. "The diamond is for moirallegiance, trolls who pity each other, but not in the same way as matesprits. They lean on each other and watch out for each other and comfort one another. My moirail is Tetrarch Dammek, and he's the best moirail ever." Xefros smiled faintly but then blushed.

Let's move on.

Xefros pointed at the club. "Clubs are for auspisticism. Auspistices are three trolls, one of which who keeps the others from spiraling into a kismesitude that would just be bad for everyone." Xefros now pointed to the spade. "And finally: kismesitude. This is a quadrant shared by two trolls who basically hate each other so much that they are attracted to each other. So, that's the quadrants. Do you understand?"

Jaci kind of rolled her think pan around, neither really nodding or shaking her think pan. She settled on holding her hands up and shaking her think pan out to clear her thoughts. "Ok, you know what, I may not understand the blackrom stuff, but to do get the redrom, and you said 'moirail' earlier, and I get that - it's like better than best friends for humans - so that's all I really need to understand." She handed him a small cloth out of her pocket. "I won't do that 'shoosh-pap' thing anymore," she smiled, her frustration forgotten.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have overreacted like that," Xefros wiped at his cheeks with the little cloth and handed it back to her in a nice little square, it's corners stained in burgundy. "You couldn't have known," he said from the floor.

Jaci put out her hand for Xefros, but he didn't take it yet. "I think you were still just in a panic from your nightmare, and I wouldn't blame you," Jaci laughed. "I wasn't exactly doing it very calmly, to be fair." Bambi, who Xefros had only just now noticed was missing, walked back up to their alcove, apparently having gone off on his own, and began to push Jaci towards the exit of the sewer. Xefros grabbed her hand and let her pull him up. Together, he and Jaci followed Bambi after picking up Byers and placing him in her pocket. "Come on, Xefros. Let's go find your friend."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as always, please tell me if you notice anything misspelled or a particular word that has a troll counterpart that I missed. I try to make everything perfect, but, as I said, before, I don't have a beta so I miss stuff on my own. ^^;  
> 


	3. Dinner?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, chapter 3 finally! I lost my draft of this chapter and finally recovered it so to make up for it I'm going to post two chapters today. Sorry for the wait. Anyway, enjoy!

You squinted at the light pouring in from the cave mouth, trying to discern anything beyond blazing bright light. You couldn't.

  
"You'll hurt your eyes doing that," Xefros called from further within the cave. You stood up from where you were sitting and walked deeper towards Xefros who was tending a small fire that was licking at a spit, cooking what looked to be two fat... Grubs? You sat next to him and leaned back so your back was touching Bambi and closed your eyes.

  
"What are those?"

  
"Dinner."

  
"Har-har, you're hilarious."

  
"They're grubs. I found them under that rock over there, but I don't know how they got there. I don't see their lusi anywhere, so I guess we must be near the brooding caves." Your heart skipped a beat and you shot up into a seated position.

  
"Wait, don't young trolls have lusi?"

  
He looked to the side, the back at you, surprised at your sudden motion. "Uh, Yeah..?"

  
You looked at the two creatures skewered on the spit, each a little over half the length of your forearm, with three segments each, a little pair of black legs on each segment, and both of them red. They no longer had heads.

  
"So, you're telling me, that these," you gestured wildly to the decapitated grubs, "are baby trolls?!" Xefros seemed to shrink back from your wildly incredulous and disgusted face, unsure as to why you were reacting like this.

  
"Uh, yeah..?" he squeaked.

  
"And you _eat_ them?!?"

  
"Uh, yeah..?"

  
" _WHAT_?!"

  
"Do humans not eat their grubs??" You made some kind of ungodly squawk at the thought of eating children.

  
"No! That's cannibalism! It's illegal! Are you saying that all trolls do this?!"

  
"Uh, yeah??" His voice was rising in pitch, caught off-guard by the impromptu interrogation. "I'm sorry! They were left for dead! That's what we've always done! Besides, it's not like they're highbloods or anything!"

  
You tried to calm yourself down, taking some deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. In through the nose, out through the mouth. "Ok," you said, "so this is a perfectly normal thing in troll culture?"

  
" ... Yes."

  
"Would you mind if I asked why?"

  
Xefros was silent, probably thinking while he twisted the spit and turned the grubs so that now their backs were facing the flames. "Well, the mothergrub lays hundreds of eggs at a time, and many of those get injured or sickly or whatever, even while still in the caverns. All the dead grubs would fill the brooding caverns of we didn't dispose of them somehow, and just burning them is wasteful, so we eat them or use them to make stuff."

  
You stated into the flames, watching the was they glinted off the carcasses.

  
"That's messed up."

  
Xefros chuckled and turned the spit again, poking the bigger of the grubs to see if it was done, you supposed. "I take it you don't want any, then?"

  
You looked at the grubs and squinted. Did you want to eat a young troll? You supposed it was like eating chicken, a common occurrence with no real meaning, but you still weren't sure. "I don't know, Xefros... This is pretty high up on my list of weird..."

  
"I mean, I could go try to find you something else? Or maybe 'Bambi' and I could try hunting at dusk or something?" You shook your head at his offer, determined to make this as easy and painless as possible.

  
"No, I haven't eaten anything since I came here. It's already been about 32 hours, I don't know how much longer I can go without any actual food." He looked to the mouth of the cave and cringed.

  
"I... I could try to find something now..?"

  
"Xefros, no! I meant I would eat the grubs, not asking you to go out in the sun!"

  
He grinned nervously and quickly poked the larger grub to give himself something to do, and to hide his growing blush. Apparently, it was done because he took the stick off the spit and broke it in half, offering you the larger grub.

  
"Here then, Jaci. You can have the bigger one," he said. You held your hand up and shook your head.

  
"I appreciate it, but you have it," you giggled, "I physically can't eat that much."

  
He handed you the smaller grub instead and you held one end of the stick in each hand and stared at the plump red grub in front of you, trying to convince yourself that it was a normal kebab, not a baby troll, maybe one of those chicken things from a Chinese buffet. Yeah, a chicken thing from a Chinese buffet, that's what this is.

  
"Are you going to eat it?" You glanced at Xefros out of the corner of your eye, seeing half of his already gone. Steeling yourself, you bit into it before you lost your nerve. Immediately, a bunch of dark red juice squirted everywhere and you tried to scoot back to avoid it, but you were already pressed up against Bambi.

  
Aww, it got all over your legs! You tried to suck the juice running down your chin back into your mouth, but it was no use. You were a mess and there was no going back. "Dangid," you said around your mouthful, which tasted surprisingly very much like shrimp. Byers cooed from your pocket and hopped out, apparently having gotten juice on his feathers.

  
"Oops, sorry," Xefros whined, "I should have warned you! I didn't think about your dull teeth!" He was reaching for you, but there wasn't really much he could do to help so he just kind of sat there awkwardly with his hands in the empty air between the two of you. You swallowed your mouthful and shook the spare dribbles off your hands onto the cave floor.

  
"Nah, it's fine. It's not that bad..." You continued to eat, still dribbling all over yourself, but it really wasn't that bad. After the first bite, most of the pressure was released, so it was much easier to slurp up, like trying to eat a juicy slice of watermelon. About halfway through, though, you couldn't bring yourself to eat anymore. It was just too much to eat at once, enough to easily feed you and your brother, but Xefros seemed to have finished his off and was now licking his fingers clean. You gave yourself a once-over, and you were right; the only things that really got juice on them were your shorts and your jacket. Still, you didn't want to smell like shrimp-grub-whatever for the rest of your time here and you didn't know how you were going to wash your shorts with Xefros around. Or without soap.

  
Suddenly, a great big prickly wet thing dragged up your arm and the side of your face, startling both you and Xefros. Byers was clueless as ever.

  
"Oh, yuck, what the heck, Bambi?!" But your angry words were discounted by the giggle in your voice and the smile on your face. You heard Xefros laughing as Bambi continued to kick at your face, knocking you over in the process. "Xefros, help!" You squeaked as Bambi began chuffing at you, tickling your neck.

  
"I'll save you, Jaci!" Immediately, the weight above you disappeared as Xefros hoisted Bambi off of you and rolled to the side. Bambi licked his face and batted at him like a cat would at a string, and he batted right back. Bambi pounced on him and with a scream of laughter, Xefros rolled with it, knocking the two of them into you. You latched onto Bambi's shoulders, your half-eaten grub forgotten on the floor by the campfire as you clung to his antlers to keep them from hurting you.

  
Bambi stood up, with you still gripping his alabaster antlers, and began to paw at you, shaking his head and chuffing playfully. Xefros shouted, "Raaaahhhh!" and pulled Bambi down by his neck, allowing you to slide off and grab his hind paws so he could hold his top down.

  
Content with his capture, Bambi snuggled down into your collective hold and began purring loudly. "Woo, we did it!" you cheered. Big paws hooked around your torso and dragged you towards his head and Bambi began licking your neck and face again, apparently trying to clean you, but you tried to shoo him away with your hands. "Bambi, stop," you giggled.

  
"Maybe he just still smells the grubsauce?" Xefros suggested. You looked to the forgotten grub by the fire and then back at Bambi, reaching for it while he tried to hold you next to his chest.

  
"Xefros, can you reach that grub?" He laughed and rolled closer to the grub, grabbing the stick and twisting back towards Bambi and waving it in front of his muzzle. Bambi raised his head at the grub and twisted to reach it, forgetting you as Xefros walked the skewered grub away from you and leading Bambi to the wall of the cave.

  
You sat up and tried to pet your hair down, but there didn't seem to be much use. Chuckling, Xefros sat down beside you and watched you in your struggle. "Want some help?" You nodded gratefully and sat in front of the fire while he fixed your hair, and you didn't miss how he subtly felt your head to see if you really didn't have any horns.

  
"Thanks, Xefros." Bambi walked back while licking his chops and curled up behind the two of you, encasing you in a semicircle of vibrating heat and fur. Byers strutted over to the little cuddle pile and flapped up on top of Xefros' head, landing right between his horns. Xefros froze once again in a sudden panic and you felt his entire body go stiff.

  
"Uh, Jaci..? ... Help..." You giggled at his panicked look and simply patted Byers on the head, making him coo and snuggle into Xefros' hair even more.

  
"He likes you." You smiled and turned back around, worming your way into the crook between Xefros' side and Bambi's neck--the best place, in your opinion--and watched the dying flames.

  
Xefros was quiet for a while before mumbling, "You have a weird lusus, Jaci."

  
"He's not weird, he's clueless." Xefros startled, making Byers let out a small coo. "Besides, he's not my lusus." You felt Xefros adjust himself for a bit, heard a couple quiet coos, and then silence.

  
"What is he, then?" You rolled over to face him and pet a single finger on Byers' head, whom Xefros had now moved to rest in the hollow of his elbow.

  
"He's my brother's pet pigeon. He was in my pocket when I went through the portal and now he's stuck here just like me."

  
"Why is he so colorful?"

  
"I'm not so sure. He just is. Lots of animals on Earth are. Actually, most of them are."

  
"Really?"

  
"Oh, yeah," you said, "most of the only purely white animals on Earth are mutated or live in the Arctic, which is basically all snow." Xefros "hmm"ed thoughtfully and copied you, using a single clawed finger to pet Byers on the head. He laughed quietly when Byers closed his eyes and began moving his head around so his claw was now lightly scratching his neck. You watched contentedly as your new friend happily loved on your brother's pigeon. Your eyes grew heavy from the heat surrounding you and eventually, you felt yourself drift off into sleep.


	4. Disguise!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter four also posted today as promised! Also, after the release of Zebede's friendsim, it's clear that he was not the ally that was alluded to in-game (although they might later be revealed to be Tyzias???) so I'm going to go back and rewrite some of my sentences and tags to make it a little more... ambiguous..? At this point, the ally could really be anyone using female pronouns (except probably Ardata), so I can really only guess. Until it's released, though, I'm just gonna keep it vague. "\\_( :T )_/" Enjoy!

Oh, boy, this was weird. This fluffy little not-lusus was really into being petted. He  had been petting him all day since they had laid down. Jaci hadn't said anything for  a while, and when Xefros looked over at her, she was still smushed into his side and  was now making some kind of growly purr sound. It was really kind of cute--in a  totally platonic, not-red way! Nope, no way! He already had a moirail, so he  definitely wasn't feeling pale. 

Simple as that, yep.

Oh, who was he kidding, this was so red. He was feeling something for sure.  Whether it was flushed or pale, he wasn't certain, but it was definitely red and he  knew it.

Xefros sighed and pet Byers some more, thinking about the last few days. They had  been able to hide in a sewer drain the first day, but it was abandoned so they didn't  find anything to eat. Thankfully they found some grubs in this cave, but how they  got here was a mystery. He guessed they crawled out of the caverns with their lusi,  who were later caught in some kind of accident or something, but he supposed he  would never know. It wasn't really important.

Xefros leaned back into Bambi's side, patting the fur down around his head so it  wasn't poking him in the gander bulbs. Tetrarch Dammek had trained him so that  now he was able to sleep anywhere, even without sopor slime. He may not be  letting himself sleep now so he could watch out for Jaci, but he at least wanted to  be comfortable. Jaci groaned a little at his movement and suddenly sat straight up  with a yelp. She looked panicked at first, but she saw Byers in Xefros' hands and  sighed. Jaci tucked her legs underneath her and leaned into Bambi, stirring him  awake too. She raised a hand to her mouth and yawned.

"Is it night yet?" she asked around her hand. Xefros looked in the direction of the  cave mouth, seeing the dying rays of light glowing around the stalagmites.

"Sun's going down now." Jaci nodded, pulling herself to her feet with an  exaggerated groan and stretching.

"How'd you sleep?" Xefros grabbed her outstretched hand and allowed her to help  him up.

"I didn't," he said, "but it's ok!" he added quickly when he saw Jaci's worried look.  "I slept yesterday! Besides, I don't want to wake you up with my nightmares  anymore."

"Xefros, you need to sleep sometime," she was raising her hand, but Xefros  guessed she didn't really know what she could do. "Do you have nightmares that  often or something?" she finally asked.

Xefros just shrugged. "When I sleep without sopor slime. Every troll does. It... It  calms us," Xefros explained while brushing the dead remnants of the fire around so  they no longer looked like an old fire. Jaci was silent, her hand on her chin while  deep in thought. She looked up to the ceiling, but her concentration seemed to  falter when she did, so she scoffed and frowned.

"How can we get you some 'sopor slime' then?" she asked, making little enclosure  talons when she said "sopor slime." 

Xefros shrugged.  "We could spend the day at a respitehive in Grubspent, but I don't think have  enough credits for that, what with me being in such a low caste..." Xefros tapped  his chin with his free hand while Byers stayed in the crook of his elbow. "Besides,"  he shrugged and waved his hand, "I'm a gutterblood who is neither with a highblood  or being sent to meet a highblood. I have no purpose or reason to be at a  respitehive. Not to mention the fact that you're obviously not a troll. You'd be culled  for sure." Xefros knelt to check the straps on Bambi's saddle.

"What if I looked like a highblood?" The strange question startled Xefros so much  that he accidentally pulled the strap on Bambi's saddle too tight, making him meow  in indignation. Xefros sat Byers on Bambi's antler and put his hands on his hips,  taking Jaci in and trying to picture her as a highblood. A small shiver ran down his  spine at the thought.

This was not an unpleasant idea to him.

"... How would you do that..?" Jaci walked over to the remnants of the fire and  scooped some char dust and brushed it on the exposed skin on her legs. They  turned a nice shade of grey, albeit a little streaky, but that could be fixed.

"And we could find some colorful trash or something to make some horns or  something!" Xefros didn't want to disagree with her plan, she looked so happy after  all, but there were some serious flaws with this "plan." Like, what about her  scelera? They were as white as a lusus! And her teeth and claws were so dull, not to  mention her blood color! She was a rustblood just like him, you can't change that.  To be fair, her gander bulbs were a blue-green color, and they wouldn't want to  make her too much of a highblood, so they might be able to pass her off as a  snobbish tealblood with a rustblooded servant if they could find something for her  gander bulbs and maybe make some makeshift horns.  Xefros smiled nervously and held up a weak thumb. Jaci started vigorously rubbing  char dust into all her exposed skin but Xefros quickly ran over to help her blend it.

Yeah, he wasn't using it as an excuse to touch her, he was trying to make sure they weren't culled before they got to their ally's hive. He felt a blush creeping up his chug column as he smoothed the streaks in her hastily-applied char dust disguise but he just pretended he was scrubbing the floor like in his training, you know, preparing it for a nice layer of mucus to make it shine. Together, they turned her pale skin into a nice and blended shade of grey. Jaci held a fistful of char dust in her now grey hand and looked at it disdainfully.

"Do you think I should put this in my hair or wait until we find some dye..?" she  asked. Xefros pulled the hood of her jacket up over her head and considered it,  tucking stray strands of hair under the dark fabric.

"I think you could go without for now. As for horns," Xefros grabbed a small stick  from the edge of the cave, one that has not been burned, broke it in half, and stuck  them under her hood so they poked her head but would simply look like she forgot  to cut holes in the hood for her horns. Xefros stepped back and admired their  handiwork with Bambi. Bambi cocked his head.

"There's still the problem with your gander bulbs, though..." Xefros muttered.  Then, it hit him like a subjugulator's club to the head. He dug around in Tetrarch  Dammek's saddle, sure there was one more pain in here somewhere while Jaci  looked on in curiosity. Then, with a gasp and a small and insecure flourish, he  presented his find: a pair of Tetrarch Dammek's dark fashion sunglasses. Xefros  slipped them onto Jaci's face and stepped back again. 

"How do I look?" Jaci did a small spin in place and grinned sheepishly. 

_ Beautif- _

"Like a troll, for the most part," he answered with a faint blush. Jaci's grin turned  into a confident one and she hopped a little in her excitement, making Bambi  restless too. She ran to his side, giggled, and lightly pet his nose so as not to  disturb her weak disguise. Quickly, she jumped into his saddle and patted the  leather behind her.

"C'mon, Xefros, we're burning moonlight!" Xefros thought to grab a few handfuls  more of the chat dust for later and captchalogued them, then climbed into the  saddle behind her and floated his hands above her shoulders, not quite sure if he  trusted himself to hold her in such a red way and not make it weird. After all, he  didn't know what romance was like on Earth, this could be weird or offensive or give  her a false impression of pale eligibility - and he already had a moirail! "What are  you doing?" Her deadpan question startled him out of his thoughts and he jumped  slightly.  "Uhh, is this ok?" _Oh, he's so nervous right now why did he ask that what was he_ _ thinking- _

"Uh, yeah..? Why wouldn't it be?" She grabbed Byers off of Bambi's antler and  moved him to her pocket.

"I-I don't really... know..." Xefros looked to the side to hide his blush.

"Well," Jaci turned around to the cave mouth and brought Bambi to a nice trot,  "hang on because I want to get to - where are we going? Grubspent? - before  sunrise. You, sir, are getting some good sleep tonight." Xefros felt like he should tell  her that he could sleep without sopor slime, he just had nightmares, but he  supposed that was part of what she meant. Besides, they had already taken off into  the night, to the East, like the night before. Xefros gripped Jaci's shoulders tightly to  keep from falling off as they sped across the empty plains.


	5. getthekeygetthekeyohmygodgetthekey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah hey hecc it's chapter 5
> 
> Hey, thanks to those of you that enjoy this, it means a lot to me. We get out first guest appearance today! Although, I would never consider them a guest. But! Awkward adventure ensues. I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope you guys like it.

With your disguise on, you felt a little more confident about being out in the open, but it was so hard to see with Dammek's sunglasses on that you had to rely on Xefros guiding you from behind. After a few miles of running in, from your perspective, near total darkness, you and Xefros switched places. You reasoned that it also added to the whole "highblood with her gutterblood slave" façade the two of

you had going on, so that also boosted your confidence a bit—not because you were "better" than him! You just felt—safer, yeah. Protected in your disguise. You looked to the East, or at least what you thought was the East, and began to see the outline of a city.

"Is that Grubspent?" you yelled. Xefros glanced at you over his shoulder.

"Yeah," he shouted. As you got closer, the lights began to gleam brighter, glinting off of Xefros' horns and making them shimmer. He slowed Bambi to a trot as you came into the more populated area before turning into an alley between two sketchy-looking buildings. "We might find some good trash here," he reasoned, "and maybe a weapon for you."

"A weapon?" You cocked your head and raised your eyebrow as Xefros jumped out of the saddle, but you weren't sure he could see it behind your disguise.

"Well, yeah. In case someone tried to rob us or cull us or kidnap us and sell us or… He paused in his counting on his fingers at the scared look on your face. "Well, you get the idea," he shrugged sheepishly.

"But I already have one." You uncaptchalogued your calligraphy pen, it's nice sharp nib shining in the fluorescent lights. "As they say, the pen is mightier than the sword," you smiled. Xefros cringed and shook his head.

"That won't be enough, Jaci. You need something that will actually protect you." Xefros turned around and began searching through the junk to find a supposedly better weapon than you trusty penkind strife specibus. Sliding out of Bambi's saddle, you stood next to Xefros in the alley, watching as he rifled through trash and trying to guess what he was looking for. He stood up with a small metal thing in his clawed hand, and when he pressed a button, a shiny, multicolored blade popped out. He grimaced and wiped the blade on a nearby bag, revealing it to be a plain silver, but it was still a pretty blade. He handed it to you after pressing the button again, retracting the blade. "Here, this will be fine for now. If someone comes at you, just try to block with your arms and aim for their chug column." He mimed what you assumed to be blocking an invisible attack and then slicing someone across their neck. You curled your lips in disgust as you held the small thing in your hand.

"I'm not so sure I can do that, Xefros..."

"Well, you could just give them a nice stab."

You shook your head, eyes still wide. "I...."

"I'm sorry, just please, keep it with you?"

You paused to say something, but in the end, you ceded and tucked the knife into your strife folder. Xefros smiled and turned back around to face the trash, placing his hands on his hips and considering everything. He split a stiffer-looking bag of bag of trash with his claw and some dry stuff spilled out. You know, flattened cardboard boxes, plastic containers, and what looked like cereal boxes, but you suspected that the "cereal" wasn't made with grain.

Xefros picked through the boxes and came up with two flattened boxes made out of that flimsy cardboard that cereal and butter boxes are made of, one with a gradient of yellow to orange and another that had some thick, bright red borders around some words that were so incorporated with the logo art that you couldn't make out what they spelled. He grinned brightly, showing off his fangs. "We can cut these up and make some horns really quickly!"

Hey, a better use for your new knife! You equipped it and handed it to him, watching him make some cuts in the thin material before pulling something like… Tape? He pulled tape, of all things, out of his pocket and taped the pieces together on the inside, making some fake horns that didn't look all too terrible. They weren't too long, maybe about the length of your hand if they were stretched out, and when attached, they looked like they would kind of stick up, like a cotton candy stick.

Kinda boring.

"How am I going to wear them?" you asked while removing the sticks from your hood. Xefros put his hand to his chin in thought, obviously not having gotten that far

"Sorry, I didn't think about that," he said. He turned back to the trash, the two "horns" still in his hands. He bent down and stood back up, holding a length of wire in his hand. "Maybe we can tie them to your head with this?"

You grabbed the wire and loosely wrapped it around your head to see if you thought it might hold. It was kind of flimsy, but you supposed they would work for a temporary disguise. "Let me see the horns," you held out your hand, "I think I know how to attach them." Xefros handed you the makeshift horns and you poked two holes in either side of each horn with your knife, not too high to show the wire, but

not too low to break the cardboard. You fed the wire through the holes and then tied them to your head, shaking it a bit to see if they would fall off, and surprisingly, they didn't, just wiggled a bit. You grinned at Xefros.

"They—they look good," he said. "Now you need a name." Xefros tapped his chin in thought and you wondered what would be so hard about that.

"Why not something kind of... Preppy, maybe? Like Juliet Capulet, or Cassandra Merryweather, maybe something with Anabeth? Anabeth Schrodinger? No, that's ridiculous. Anabeth Fencetomaker? That sounds good."

Xefros squinted in confusion at your suggested name. "What kind of a name is that?" he asked.

"What do you mean, 'what kind of a name is that?'? That's a great name, I would totally name my kid Anabeth." You crossed your arms over your chest in a smooth manner, but you didn't really mean it. You kind of hated the name Anabeth.

Xefros paused. "Are... Are many your human names like that?"

"Like what?"

Xefros counted on his fingers silently for a few seconds, his face growing more confused by the second. "Sorry, I just don't see how 'Cassandra Merryweather' or 'Anabeth Fencetomaker' fit into twelve letters," he mumbled. Now it was your turn to be confused.

"They don't... have to? Names can be any length on Earth. Are all your names twelve letters on Alternia?" Xefros nodded.

"You need a troll name," he said. "Something like... Leyran Onleeo, or Kentri Silrib, or Melsta Preont..."

"Ooh, I like Kentri! That one!"

"Alright, Kentri Silrib it is. Nice to meet you, master, I'm Xefros Tritoh." Xefros bowed a little with one hand behind his back and then laughed. You laughed along.

"Ooh, 'master~' I like it," you teased, and then giggled at the little blush that blew up on his face when you did.

"N-now we just need to get to the respitehive," he said, trying to change the subject. "I should have enough credits for a tealblood rate but I don't know that I'll be allowed to go into your room, or-"

"Xefros-"

"-maybe they won't even let me in the building," he put his hands on his face in worry, "or maybe they won't let you use a room for one-"

"Xefro-"

"-or get suspicious of a tealblood with a servant or just see through your disguise and cull-"

"Xefros!"

Xefros froze in place and stared at you with wide eyes.

"We'll be fine, ok?" You put your hand to your chest in a manner of pride, "I'm an actress, I can do this. Just tell me how a 'tealblood' would normally act and I'll improvise." Xefros nodded slowly and looked to the side, wringing his wrists for a moment before sighing.

"Highbloods all think they are better than gutterbloods because that's how it's always been. They're just better. They treat any troll lower than they are in the hemospectrum like dirt, and they can because it's their right to. If I were already a servant like I'm training to be, my master, which would be you in this case, would likely treat me like I was replaceable or like I wasn't worth much." His face grew solemn as he spoke, and you couldn't help but mirror his worried expression. "They would be likely to beat me or embarrass me publicly, and would likely talk down to me or patronize me or just flat out abuse me, and they'd order me around and cull me if they were bored," he paused to take a breath, and probably to calm himself down, and you couldn't blame him. "But a tealblood probably wouldn't do all that. They're pretty low on the highblood end of the hemospectrum, so they would probably be more likely to be culled by a higherblood if they acted like that."

"So, act like a jerk, but not like too much of a jerk?" you asked.

"Yeah. I mean, you can still talk down to me and kinda push me around, maybe smack me a bit when I mess up, but not too hard or too often, or people will get suspicious." You didn't like the idea of even lightly smacking Xefros on the arm, let alone what you thought he was talking about. He was too innocent and sweet to be abused like that. He seemed to read your thoughts, or maybe just your face because he quickly tried to reassure you. "Don't worry, Jaci, I can take it! I'm unusually strong," he said proudly, puffing up his chest a bit.

"Ok... But just know beforehand that I won't mean any of it." You turned around to look at Bambi for a minute, remembering what you read in that rather informative book of Dammek's about them often being killed for their habit of raising "rebellious" trolls. "Hey, will we be able to really walk with him in town?" Xefros cocked his head and considered your steed.

"No, I think he should stay hidden. Maybe he'll be ok here?" You looked around the dim alley, probably dimmer because of Dammek's sunglasses, and looked for a good place to hide such an outstanding beast in such a contrasting setting. You approached what looked like a dumpster.

"Hey, Xefros, do you think you could help me tilt this on its side for him to hide in?"

Xefros peered inside to see if there was any trash in it.

"Yeah, I can do this," he nodded and then set his face, squaring his shoulders before approaching the side of the dumpster and squatting down next to it, hooking his hands under the edge and lifting with a surprising amount of strength. The dumpster tilted and clattered to the ground, making a nicely-sized hideaway for a large Cuspidated Grimalkin who jumped at the noise and quietly hissed. You reached up to comfort him and he purred, but he wasn't pleased. You led him carefully and slowly to the dumpster, saying in a nice and hopefully comforting manner, "Come on Bambi, it's just a dumpster. We need you to stay hidden and safe until tomorrow." He grumbled and chuffed, but he sat down inside, despite the smell. You pet his neck and kissed his nose before exiting and carefully lowering the lid so it laid over the entrance like a door. Xefros gently touched your elbow and pulled you with him out of the alley.

Grubspent was... Not what you had expected. To be fair, though, you didn't really know what you expected. It was similar to Outglut, or at least what you saw of the skyline, but it seemed... Different somehow. There were a few trolls out walking, some holding hands, others dressed in warmer colors quietly following those in cooler colors with their heads down, some simply walking around by themselves, but looking suspicious or oppressed all by themselves. You tried to walk ahead of Xefros as much as you could, but that was kind of hard when you didn't know where you were going, not to mention barely being able to see it even if you did. In the end, Xefros found a length of string which he tied loosely around his neck and handed to you, allowing him to lead you without it looking like he was disrespecting you, you

supposed.

After a while, he turned into a large and pretty glamorous building, decorated in blues and hints of green and a smidge of purple. It had high ceilings, which you tried not to ogle at, lots of gold trims and sculpted pillars, and a decked out front desk complete with a guestbook with a few decorative names in it and a nice little lamp to add to the dimly lit ambiance. Xefros tapped a little bell on the counter, but instead of ringing, it made a squeaking sound.

You then realized it was some kind of bug.

A redblood came up to the counter from behind a small doorway and offered a small smile to Xefros. "Hello," she said, tucking a small wavy piece of black hair behind her pointed ear. "What can I help you with today?"

"She needs a block for the day," Xefros said for you, much quieter and insecure than you had ever heard him in person.

You hated it.

"Name, please," she said while moving over to a computer and typing a few things in.

"Kentri Silrib," he answered.

"Rate?"

"E-eh, tealblood," he stuttered and lightly tapped your toe with his heel, and in response, you lightly smacked him in the shoulder, hoping that was what he meant for you to do. He flicked his wrist towards you, and you really hoped that meant "good, that's perfect." You raised your nose to try to look snooty for the desk clerk.

"Any special accommodations for a lusus?"

"Uh, maybe a small tree? And some… some grubfeed?" He tapped your toe again and you smacked his shoulder again, this time with a small growl, earning you another wrist flick to accompany his probably fake gasp of pain.

"Alright, and will you be needing a rustblood room?" She paused in her typing to look up at the pair of you.

Xefros froze momentarily and you heard his breath catch, so you spoke up before he could say anything, "He stays with me," adding in another little growl for good measure.

"So that'll be two recuperacoons, then?"

Xefros started to answer, "Ye-" but you cut him off.

"No, just one." Both Xefros and the clerk blushed brightly, although you didn't know what for. You only needed one "recuperacoon." She typed in the last of the information before turning to Xefros, avoiding eye contact with the both of you.

"That'll be 1,465 credits, please." God, she still wouldn't look at you! What did you say? Before, she would at least glance at you while making mostly direct eye contact with Xefros, but now she could only stare at the counter with that persistent blush. Xefros pulled a little hexagonal card out of his captchalogue and faltered for a moment before hesitantly sliding it to her on the marble countertop. She took the card and held it under a scanner for a few seconds before her computer let out a little beep. She passed Xefros his card and pulled another one out from under the counter, this one shaped like a skinny oval, and popped one end into some little device for a few seconds before that, too, beeped, and then also handed that to him.

"Have a good day," she muttered, still blushing.

Xefros hurried down the hall after checking the number on the room card, not bothering to respond as he tried to hide his blazing blush. He didn't look at you as you approached the elevators, silently pressing the "up" button and standing with his hands clasped together behind his back as he waited for the doors to open. "Um, wh-" but he kicked your foot before you could finish. You tried to mask your groan of pain by slowly breathing out, but it came out as some sort of pitiful, breathy whine, making what you could see if Xefros' neck and ears turn a shade darker. God, that actually really hurt, though. It was taking all your willpower to not start trying to hold your stubbed foot. He wasn't kidding when he said he was unusually strong, though, his earlier demonstration with the dumpster already proved that.

The doors opened a moment later, and a troll with tall straight horns that kind of had some kind of stopper shape at the end stepped out with an equine lusus. He was a highblood, you knew that, but you weren't sure how high up the scale he was. He was about a head-and-a-half taller than you, and he looked preppy enough, what with his combed hair, indigo bowtie, sleek grey vest, and fancy-looking,

futuristic handheld device. He noticed you and Xefros and immediately perked up, approaching you and slipping the device in his pocket as he looked you over. You didn't like the looks of him--or his lusus for that matter.

"Well hello there, what a pleasure," he said, drawing out his words as he held out a hand to greet you. You cautiously took it and shook it carefully, but he didn't let go, instead clapping his other hand around yours and introducing himself and sort of leaning over you, using his height to his advantage and effectively caging you in against the wall. "I'm Zebruh Codakk," he droned, and his equine lusus suddenly made so much more sense.

It flicked an ear at you and snorted in Xefros' direction, making him cower into you. "I-I'm Kentri Silrib. Good evening." He grinned in such a sleazy way, god, it made your skin crawl.

"That it is, that it is. Say, I hope you won't think any less of me, but you wouldn't mind telling me your blood color, would you?" Xefros choked a little and started to say something, but you placed a calm hand on his elbow, still gripping the string.

"I'm not so sure that matters to you." Apparently, this was a much riskier thing to say than you imagined because Xefros started to silently shiver, but Zebruh smirked.

"Actually, I think it does." he removed his hands from yours and slithered up behind you and Xefros while his lusus begrudgingly blocked the exit, him draping one arm around your shoulders and another around Xefros'. "You see, I am an activist for the betterment of gutterbloods, and your blood color may just decide if I can help you or not." He spoke directly in your ear, low and gravely, and it really creeped you out. You shrugged out from under his arm and gripped the string in your hand a little tighter.

"No thanks, we're good," you said, trying desperately to get him to leave. It was then that he leaned in a little closer to Xefros and noticed the string around his neck, leading to your hand. His lip curled in disgust, showing off his fangs.

"Ah, I see you treat you your fellow,  _ gutterblooded, _ troll with as much contempt and disrespect as most highbloods, so you're obviously not a rustblood." He slipped a finger under the string, testing the tightness, but seemed to be disappointed in how loose it was.

"Actually, it's for his protection," you said, trying to step between him and Xefros, who was now trying his best to smile politely, but it only succeeded in making him look like he was baring his fangs nervously. Zebruh smiled then and removed his finger, letting you between the two of them.

"Oh? So you're an activist too?" You thought for a moment before nodding resolutely, glaring at this invasive troll. "Hmm, well then, we should get along juuuuust fine~" God, he was still grinning why wouldn't he stop doing that creepy little grin-smirk thing??

"Yeah, well, we're about to head up to our room, so if you'll just excuse us..." You began to walk around him, edging past his lusus and trying to press the button to open the doors of the elevator again, but it seemed that with all the time Zebruh had been able to distract you, someone else had called on the carriage and it wasn't available.

Great.

"Oh, well, I'll accompany you. You never know what kind of creeps hang out at these respitehives." He sidled up beside you, slipping his arm around your shoulder again, and smiling some more.

"Oh, so chivalrous," you said flatly, shrugging his arm off your shoulder again, but he didn't seem to catch your tone.

"I know," he grinned down at you, making you roll your eyes, but you weren't sure he could see it behind your glasses.

The elevator opened again and a skinny-looking troll with orange coke-bottle glasses and tiny, curved horns about as long as your thumb stepped out of the elevator with a small, runty musk deer lusus. She did a double-take at your strange little party and scampered out of the elevator with her lusus, allowing the five of you to enter, and politely holding the door open for everyone while grinning nervously. You nodded thankfully and smiled at her, even though you kind of hated her guts at the moment for allowing this creep in the elevator with you, but you supposed that couldn't really be helped. Zebruh have her his signature Creepy Smile™, and you felt a little better knowing that it wasn't just you and Xefros to catch his attention.

"Thanks," he drawled, gazing at her with half-lidded eyes. She blushed a lovely brown and smiled sheepishly, muttering a "you're welcome" before booking it and leaving your party to the elevator. You really didn't want to talk to Zebruh so you instead turned to Xefros.

"Now, uh, what exactly was it that I said earlier that made such a commotion?" You asked.

Xefros's blush returned and he hid his burning face in his hands, muttering through his fingers, "Not here, please...."

"Oh, sorry!" Well. Oh look, Zebruh put his arm around your shoulder again.

"So, tell me about your quadrants," he growled "seductively" in your ear, just loud enough for you to clearly hear, but it surprised you enough to sound like he was shouting at you. You startled, knowing enough about quadrants from that first night with Xefros in the sewer to know that this tool was blatantly asking you about your love life! You internally panicked, not sure how to respond, trying to decide if playing it off or just ignoring him would be the better option. You glanced at Xefros, but he didn't seem to hear him as she was still hiding in his palace of fingers. You sighed. What more did you have to lose in this situation?

"There's not much to tell," you said, looking away from his direction and trying to make as much room for your face as possible. Zebruh purred—oh my god he purred what the heck could all trolls do that??—and leaned on a little closer.

"Oh, come on, that always means there's a story. Tell me, is there some lucky troll filling your flushed quadrants?" You curled your lips in disgust and—once again—shrugged out of his touch, as much as you could in a cramped elevator anyway.

"No, and I intend to keep it that way." This elevator was way too slow for your tastes. How high up were you going? You were currently on floor 32 and the button that was glowing was on floor 63. How tall was this building?

Zebruh scoffed. "I bet you're in with that little gutterblood over there, huh?" He made a little heart with his fingers and raised his eyebrows at you. You blushed at his insinuations, really not wanting to think about that right now, but you would totally prefer it to this. Zebruh, feeling like he confirmed his hypothesis, looked lazily off to the side, then quickly leaned over to mutter in your ear, "I bet I could do better~"

…

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodhowdoesoneevenrespondtothatwhattheheckohmygodyourfaceisburningrightnowyoudon'tthinkit'severbeenredderguesshedoesnthavetofigureoutyourbloodcolorohmygodwhattheheckwhattheheckwhatthehec-

The doors opened and you bolted out of the elevator, oh-so-eager to leave Zebruh behind and never ever see him again. Xefros ran to keep up with you and it was then that you realized that not only was he the one with the key, but you didn't even know the room number, so you had no idea where to go. You bounced in place for a second, waiting for him to catch up and take the lead, and you turned around to see Zebruh and his lusus chasing after you two down the hall.

"Xefros, come on!"

"Sorry!" He passed you with a surge of speed and tore down the hallway, pulling you with him by the hand, veering around a corner and looking both ways before making a beeline for a door, fumbling with the key in an effort to line up the key with the door. He dropped the key in his panic and you looked behind you to check on Zebruh's progress, jumping when you saw that he was only a few meters away.

“Hey, what’s the rush?”

"Getthekeygetthekeygetthekeygetthe-"

"I'm sorry, I'm trying!" Xefros interrupted, but you didn't care.

"Hurry!" Xefros grabbed the key, jammed it in the slot, and waited for the light to change.

It didn’t.

"What happened?!"

"I-I-I don't know!" Xefros grabbed it out of the slot and flipped the key around while Zebruh came ever closer.

"OhmygodXefrosopenthedoorhur-" The door swung open with a click and a beep and you both fell into the room, both of you scrambling to close it again, throwing your body against it and slamming it shut just as Zebruh made it to the door, hitting him in the face with a nice, dull, "thump."

"Ok, nice talk, Kentri," he shouted from the other side, his voice muffled by the door. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

You didn't say anything.

"Ok, see you around!" You heard his footsteps retreating, along with his lusus', and you heaved a sigh of relief, sliding down the door to sit on the floor in a nice, comforting little puddle.

Xefros breathed heavily beside you before letting out a little chuckle. "Wh- what in gog's name was- was all that? " he asked between gasps.

"He was asking me about my quadrants..." Xefros blushed for a second before it faded and he let out a weak chuckle. It grew into a good laugh, and you joined him, laughing the stress away from the safety of your room. By the time you remembered that Byers was still in your jacket pocket, your laughter was absolutely riotous, so loud that one of your neighbors shouted at you to keep it down from next door. You and Xefros shared a look before bursting out in laughter again, not even caring at this point. You stood on shaky legs, letting Byers go flying off to wherever as you made your way to the cushy-looking couch and began to remove your disguise.

"Hooo, oh my god," you laughed and flopped backward onto the couch, hanging one foot off the edge, hooking one over the top, and draping your arm over your face. "What the heck is wrong with him?"

Xefros fell into the plush chair next to you and grabbed what looked like a remote off the table in front of you and turned on a television, setting it on a low volume for some background noise. "I have no idea." You calmed yourself down for a bit and sighed into this really super comfortable couch oh my gosh what was this made out of?

Oh, look, you're asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey we got some gremlins coming up next chapter but, honestly, I've got some writer's block so if you guys have any particular ideas, feel free to lemme know. ALso, we're gonna need some more friends so introduce in the next few chapters, so let me know which ones you want to meet first!


	6. Kinda High..?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter actually became really long and was taking too long to write so I cut it in half and am posting the first half today. Unfortunately, that means we don't get to see any gremlins today BUT they are coming. 
> 
> i promise
> 
> This one goes out to guest Blind because wHoO it's awkward.

What a night. Xefros untied the dirty string from his chug column and tossed it into the table where the rest of Jaci's disguise had been tossed carelessly onto the table between them. He leaned back into his splaysac, reveling in the wonderfully relaxing feeling of sopor slime so close to his tired biochemistry. Her glanced to his left to where Jaci was presently asleep on the loungeplank, making that cute grumble-purr sound again. Xefros groaned and dragged a clawed hand down his face. Gog, this was the most embarrassing night ever. First, there he was in the alley, practically drooling over her looking just like a troll, then she had to make that comment about the block, then that highblood kept hitting on her in the hallway, then he said something in the elevator... He may not have heard it, but he saw how red her face got when he said it. Oh, that red, it wasn't a dark, gutterblood red like him or any other lowblood. No, it was bright and vibrant and beautiful -

Oh, what was the use anymore? He was so flushed.

Xefros sighed and pulled himself out of his splaysac, set on finding Byers and making sure he was eating. He was glad that Jaci had understood his silent queues at the flattop downstairs. He was hoping she was smart enough to, and she was. Xefros smiled to himself as he walked through their rented respiteblock before coming upon Byers in a cute little tree, happily pecking at a little golden tray full of grubfeed. He cooed at Xefros and stretched his chug column out to him as he approached, a silent request for scratches which Xefros readily obliged. Glancing around the block, Xefros saw the recuperacoon - and immediately blushed. It was a... Very large recuperacoon, obviously meant for more than one troll, and Xefros really didn't want to think about the implications that presented for him and Jaci. Just the idea of sharing a recuperacoon with her…

He wasn't going to think about it. Right now, that is.

The rest of the block was pretty nice. It wasn't too big, but not too small either. It was decorated in cool teal colors, ranging in shades, with white, black, and gold accents. The block was separated a bit by a wall, one side being taken up mostly by the giant recuperacoon and a drawerbox, the other a common area where he and Jaci had just been relaxing in. Xefros then noticed another door and opened it, stepping inside to reveal a nice ablutionblock, complete with a sparkling, white ablution trap and surrounded by several fancy-looking bottles of shampoos and lotions.

They really were getting his credit's-worth.

Xefros went back to the respiteblock and sat on the edge of the large, round recuperacoon, admiring the rich turquoise color and wondering if he should bother with taking his clothes off first. He didn't have another set to change into later if he got in with his clothes on, but he also didn't want to get caught with Jaci around while his clothes were off. That was just asking for an awkward and embarrassing moment that could only ever come back to bite him in the bulge.

Nope. Not thinking of that.

Xefros went back to the ablutionblock and checked behind the door, finding two nice ablutionrobes hanging there. Xefros smiled and grabbed one, quickly slipping out of his clothes and then wrapping up in the ablutionrobe. There, now he could wear this in the recuperacoon, then he wouldn't ruin his clothes or be caught without them. Xefros once again entered the respiteblock and folded his clothes neatly, laying them in a nice little stack next to the recuperacoon, just like his training. Then, he heard a little snort from the other room, then a yelp and then finally a thump.

"Are you ok?" he called, satisfied with hearing a small "yeah" in response. Quickly, before she could see him in just a ablutionrobe, Xefros slipped into the recuperacoon and sighed as he relaxed. Byers cooed from his little perch as Jaci approached and judging from the little noises they were both making, Xefros guessed she took a moment to give him some scratches just like he did.

"Xefros," she called, "where are you?"

"I'm in here." Jaci's face came into view in the round opening of the recuperacoon and Xefros tried to hide his blush below the slime. It was kind of hard considering he still needed to breathe.

"Wow, so that's what a recuperacoon is?" Xefros nodded. "It seems... Messy."

Xefros chuckled and nodded with a rueful roll of his gander bulbs. "Yeah, it really is."

"Does it stain?" Jaci reached in a dipped her finger in the slime, bringing it to her face to observe it more closely.

"A little, but it’s not as bad if you to wash it out of any clothing you get it on before you wear them again."

"What about your clothes then?"

"They're on the floor there."

Jaci glanced at the floor for a second before blushing brightly, an hesitantly asking, "Are, uh... Are you wearing anything..?"

Oh, gog, why did he have to embarrass himself like this?! "Yes! There were some ablutionrobes behind the door in the ablutionblock!" Oh, gog, his blush couldn't get any darker!

Jaci nodded, still faintly blushing, and scraped the slime off her finger on the edge of the recuperacoon. "I guess you're going to sleep, then?" she asked. Xefros nodded.

"Sorry, I'm just so tired. Plus, I've got a lot on my mind. I'll see you in the evening though, yeah?"

Jaci smiled and nodded too. "Yeah. I think I'm gonna go take a bath." She left his view from within the recuperacoon, but she still called out, "Sleep well, Xefros!" as she went.

"Thanks, you too! Have a nice bath," but she had already shut the door. After a few moments, Xefros heard a muffled "woah," then the water was running in the ablution trap. A few more and the water cut off, and Xefros heard some quiet splashes through the closed door. This wasn't creepy, was it? Her wasn't acting like that highblood from earlier, right? Xefros didn't think so, but how could he be sure? She was making these noises pretty loudly, and he couldn't help but hear the telltale "thunk" of a bottle being dropped off a shelf and landing on the edge of the ablution trap before clattering on the floor. And the quiet "dangit" she muttered. Was this... Creepy of him? Xefros turned over in the recuperacoon and buried his ears beneath the slime, hoping to drown out the noises from the ablutionblock, and partially succeeding.

 

♦♥♦♥♦

 

Xefros awoke feeling rested, and somewhat happy, for the first time in a while. He could see the warm rays of the last of the setting sun casting over the opening of the recuperacoon and kind of setting the green slime color ablaze with light. What a sight to wake up to. Xefros smiled and pulled himself out of the recuperacoon, trying his best not to track slime, but there was a point at which that couldn't really be helped, could it? Xefros did his best to wipe the slime off his hands on the edge of the recuperacoon before grabbing his clothes off the floor, making sure not to touch them to his slimy ablutionrobe.

Byers cooed at him from his perch again and flapped over to land on his horn, sending a shiver down his spine. Ok, nope, not happening, those are way too sensitive for you to stay there! Xefros waved his arms about his head, and although he didn't like having to scare Byers away, there were too many chances for that to be turned into something really weird... Xefros picked up Byers and sat him back on

his little perch, pointing at the little bit of grubfeed that was left to try to get him to eat as much as possible before they left.

Byers considered the grubfeed for a moment before pecking at the meal, cooing contentedly.

There, with that chore done, Xefros turned to head into the ablutionblock. He thought about going over to check on Jaci, but he figured she would want to rest after... Yesterday. Besides, the sun was still setting, it was really early. He couldn't help but get up this early, his sleeping schedule was already set like this so he would have time to study, practice butlery, clean, tend to Zoosmell, and practice his singing, otherwise he wouldn't have the time. Xefros put his hand on the door handle and opened the door, placing his stack of clothes on the flattop next to the water basin and then turning around to fill up the ablution tra-

Jaci was still in the ablution trap.

Naked.

Xefros gasped, immediately closing his gander bulbs and racing out of the room, nearly falling in his face in the process. She must have fallen asleep during her bath! He closed the door with a quiet slam and slid down to the floor, mortally embarrassed, hoping she neither saw him nor would she think any less of him for walking in on her. After all, the door wasn't locked, it wasn't his fault, right? No, he should have checked the loungeplank when he could. Gog, he was so stupid! Well, maybe he could just wipe off the slime instead of washing it off..? He might smell kinda funny for a few days, but he would at least not be risking his chances with Jaci. Wait, since when was he thinking of his running for his life as his chance with Jaci? Xefros tried his best to wipe the slime off of his legs, then realizing that he didn't have his clothes on my gog they were still in the ablutionblock.

Oh, what was he going to do?! He couldn't go back in there, she might wake up! Xefros whined, considering how bad it might be if she did wake up while he was rescuing his clothes. No, he couldn't do that, knowing she was... The way she was. Maybe he could get her to wake up through the door? And gently explain the situation and get her to give him his clothes back? Yeah. Xefros crept back up to the door, almost expecting it to whip open and Jaci to be standing there, ready to slap him in the face.

"Eh, Jaci?" Xefros knocked on the door, gently, and trying not to scare her and possibly make her more mad than he knew she would be, but there was no response. He tried again, louder this time. "Jaci, you need to wake up," he called, cupping his hand over his mouth. "Jaci?" He knocked on the door again, harder than the other two times, this time resulting in a quiet gasp behind the closed door, followed by some frantic splashing and slurred Earth curses.

"Oh, crap, that's cold!" There was more splashing as he assumed she stepped out of the ablution trap. Ok, now was the time to break the news and just tell her.

"Uh, Jaci?" Just blurt it out, idiot!

There was a muffled yeah as Jaci continued to get out of the ablution trap. Oh, here goes…

"Hey, um, so, the door wasn't locked earlier and I'm so sorry but I walked in and I set my clothes down and I didn't see you but then I did and I ran out and I left my clothes on the flattop next to the water basin and I really need you to hand them to me because I'm still only in this robe and if you could hang me a towel too that'd be great I'm so sorry this is really embarrassing I didn't mean-" Xefros was interrupted by a frantic "wait, what?!" and a hard thud.

"Jaci! Are you ok?!" Xefros really wanted to open the door, but she was still probably not dressed! Oh, this was terrible, what if she needed help?! There was some shuffling and and a groan, then some more shuffling before a thump landed on the back of the door, jarring Xefros. "... Jaci..?" Something slid against the door with a giggle, and then the door was open, revealing Jaci in almost all of her naked

and—wrinkly? Why was she wrinkly?—glory, the only thing preserving her being Xefros' once neatly-folded stack of clothes now in a wad in front of her chest. He refused to look any lower.

Could his face get any redder? It was like the whole universe was trying to embarrass him.

She grimaced at him before sticking out her pink tongue and making a "blech" sound, trying to lean on him. "That slime tastes really weird, how do you eat that stuff??" Wait, slime? She ate sopor? How did she eat sopor?? "It tastes like wet dog." She kind of slurred her words, still trying to press her body up against Xefros', but he pushed her away, not wanting her pressed up against him like this,

her near his slimy ablutionrobe, his clothes near his slimy ablutionrobe, or any combination of the three.

"Lets get your clothes, yeah?" Xefros went back to the bathroom to find her clothes, but he nearly slipped in the puddle of sopor slime on the floor he must have tracked in the first time he came in. Jaci must have accidentally eaten some sopor when she fell, as he could pretty clearly see where she face planted into the floor here. Finding her pile of discarded clothing and seeing some strange articles, Xefros began to pick through it. Like, what in gog's name was this thing? Xefros pulled out a long and complicated tan thing that looked like a weird pair of goggles, but he couldn't see out of them. Humans are weird.

"Hey, don't touch that!" Xefros looked over his shoulder to see Jaci picking her way around the floor in the bathroom towards him, this time without his clothes in her arms, and he quickly shielded his gander bulbs. The weird goggles were snatched out of his hands, but instead of a slap like he had been anticipating all morning, he received a pat on the head. ... What?

Jaci fiddled with the goggles behind his back for a few seconds before huffing and whining a little. "Can you help? I'm stuck..." Xefros peeked out behind his gander bulb shield to see her sitting on the floor trying to wear the goggles on her... Chest.

Oh. That, that makes more sense. Humans must wear these over their rumble spheres. For what purpose, Xefros had no idea, but, hey—who was he to judge? She seemed to be tangled up in the straps, somehow having pinned her arms to her sides. Xefros blushed and placed the rest of her clothes in her lap, quickly moving to the other side so he wouldn't be thinking of that…

"How did you even manage to do this?" Xefros unhooked the little latches on the back, freeing her arms and helping her slip them through the holes that they at least looked like they were supposed to go through.

"It's evil." She grumbled quietly for a moment while Xefros rehooked the back part. "Thanks," she mumbled, "I hate bras." Xefros didn't know if he loved them or hated them for making him do that.

"Put the rest of your clothes on," he said, pushing himself off the floor and making his way to the door. She obliged, slipping her shirt over her damp hair. Satisfied that he would no longer be plagued by the constant presence of a naked Jaci, Xefros grabbed a towel from the rack and left her to her devices,

sitting on the edge of the recuperacoon and wiping the rest of the sopor slime off his body before getting dressed. He would smell like "wet dog," whatever that was, for a few days, and his clothes were kind of damp from touching Jaci's wet body earlier, but that was ok. He's tolerated worse. Besides, he wasn't sure this actually counted as tolerating, seeing as a teeny tiny part of him kind of liked it, but that was a thought to dissect at a later date. Jaci exited the ablutionblock, this time with all her clothes on, and flopped onto the loungeplank. Xefros walked up to her, taking his place from last night, and rubbing the towel in his hair to try and get out as much sopor as possible.

Jaci giggled a little and cocked her head at him, staring at his horns. "They look kinda like candy corn," she said.

"What's candy corn?" he asked. Jaci gasped and sat up, slapping her hands on her legs and staring at Xefros in disbelief. Xefros looked to the side, then back at her, frozen in instinctual fear and unsure of why she was reacting like that.

"Candy corn is only the most seasonally recognisable candy ever invented!" She paused, her finger on her chin, before she shook her head. "It kind of sucks, though." Xefros smiled a little.

"Come on, we need to put your disguise back on." Jaci looked at the disguise on the table and sighed before slipping the horns on her head. She held her arms out to the side and bowed her head.

"There, I'm a troll," she said.

Xefros uncaptchalogued the char dust he had saved and started rubbing some onto her face, making sure she looked just like she did yesterday. When he was done, he handed her Tetrarch Dammek's sunglasses and she slid them on without a word. Xefros stood and stretched, turning off the (TV) and tying the string back around his chug column and handing Jaci the other end. Doing a final check, he flipped through his captalouche cards to see that they had everything they needed. Cuebat: check. Credit card: check. Block key: check. Arena Stickball playbook: ... Not really important anymore, but check. Sloth treats: check? Oh, speaking of lusi...

"Did you grab Byers?" Jaci smiled and tilted her head to reveal Byers sitting in her hood, hiding happily in her hair. "Alright," Xefros nodded, "I think we're set."

Xefros led Jaci out of the room by the string, pulling the door shut behind them and then leading her along behind him down the hall. They turned a corner and were about to continue down the hallway towards the elevation carriages when he made out the two figures waiting by the doors- oh shit he saw you, run!

Zebruh started walking towards them with his big sleazy grin and without a second thought, Xefros spun on his heel and tore down the hallway, making Jaci yelp in indignation.

"Ow, hey, what the heck? Look, Xefros, that guy is waving at us, why are we running? Let's say hi." She tried to wave at Zebruh, but Xefros grabbed her hand and dragged her around a corner.

"We can't say hi, we need to go!" He tried to pick her up, but she was too wiggly!

Oh, gog, how did this happen? How did it come to this? Xefros silently prayed to whoever was listening that Jaci would sober up in the next few seconds and understand that Zebruh was Bad News™ and run before he got around the corner, but his prayers went unanswered as Zebruh turned the corner and greeted them. Well, more specifically, Jaci.

"Well, hello again, Kentri. Good evening," He took her hand and kissed it, nodding to Xefros in greeting when he stood back up. "Rustblood. I don't think I quite caught your name last night... Xeerox, was it?" Jaci giggled, and although Zebruh probably thought it was because his so-called "charm" was working, Xefros remembered that was what Jaci had called him earlier before she remembered his name.

That was their joke.

Xefros smiled nervously and chuckled, looking off to the side. "Uh, no, i-it's Xefros..." Zebruh's lips curled slightly, but his voice was still dripping with sweetness.

"Well, what a pleasure to formally introduce myself," he said while bowing to him.

Zebruh's lusus trotted up and snorted at Jaci, making her giggle. She tried to pet it, but it reared its head and flicked its ear at her, backing up a few steps. She frowned and tried again, but this time it stomped its hooves and snorted, making Zebruh chuckle and grab her wrists to keep her from trying to pet it again. "My lusus doesn't really like physical affection," he raised an eyebrow at her, making her blush under her disguise a little, "but I do." Gog, Xefros wanted to scratch that sleazy smirk off his face with his own claws, but before he got the chance, Byers popped out of her hood and cooed angrily at Zebruh.

Zebruh leapt back, startled by the sudden appearance of flapping feathers and a snapping beak. "Byers, behave!" Jaci dropped the string and patted him on the head to calm him down, but he was really puffed up, like a little helium bubble.

"What is that thing?" Zebruh asked, leaning in as close as he dared.

"Byers? He's my bro-"

"He's her lusus," Xefros interrupted. He shot Jaci a glare, but it didn't seem to phase her as she was too preoccupied with holding Byers and petting him, trying to calm him down. Zebruh raised his eyebrows and circled Jaci, "observing" Byers and stopping on her side between Jaci and Xefros, not-so-subtly placing an arm around her shoulders.

"Why's he so colorful?"

Jaci cocked her head and looked at Byers, apparently unphased by Zebruh's arm. "I'm not really sure, he just is." Jaci shrugged and looked up at Zebruh blankly while he, in the other hand, certainly did not have a blank gaze.

Ok, that's enough of that.

"W-well, it was... Something, to see you again Zebruh, but we really do need to go," Xefros said, coming along on Jaci's other side and tapping her on the arm. Jaci smiled and waved as she began to follow Xefros, but Zebruh still had his arm around her shoulder, keeping her from leaving.

"Oh, what's the rush?" he drawled. "I was thinking of inviting you both to join me for breakfast." He leaned closer to Jaci's ear and said, "My treat." Jaci's face brightened at the prospect of food and she nodded excitedly at Xefros.

"Oh, that sounds great! I'm starving!"

"Wonderful!" Zebruh turned Jaci down the hallway as she passed Byers to Xefros and began to lead her away, not before tossing Xefros a smug look over his shoulder as they left. "If you'll just follow me..." Zebruh's lusus stomped its hoof and snorted at Xefros, blocking his path for a few moments before turning and trotting after them, leaving Xefros frozen in the middle of the hall and staring at the lonely string lying on the floor while Byers wiggled in his claws.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said, I want to start introducing more trolls from the friendsim, so let me know which ones you want to see soon! I eventually want to get through them all, so if your favorite doesn't come up soon, it certainly will eventually!


	7. A Scare Of Debatable Size (aka Gremlins)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one's kinda short, but I wanted to get it out there. I had some serious writer's block with this and dear god I'm almost glad it's done. I love these gremlins but I don't spend enough time with people like this to really know what they're like so I hope they're not OOC. Enjoy!

Obviously he followed. He wasn't going to leave Jaci alone with that creep. Who knows what he would try to do to her? He ran down the hall to catch them at the elevation carriage, but it seemed Zebruh's lusus knew just what it was doing. The carriage had already begun its descent. The only other option was for Xefros to take the stairs, which he did, all 882 of them, three at a time. He immediately ran to the redblood at the counter, still there and working hard, and slapped the key card on the flattop, startling her.

"Did you see the tealblood I was here with earlier leave with an indigoblood?"

Her face brightened in recognition and then she rolled her eyes. “Ugh, you mean that Zebruh guy—the one who’s always hitting on anything that breathes?” Xefros nodded excitedly, starting to panic. “Yeah, they left just a minute ago, he said something about breakfast at Grubbie’s I think…” She tapped a painted claw to her chin in thought then nodded resolutely. “Yeah, it was Grubbie’s.”

“Thank you!” he yelled, running out the doors and leaving the block key on the flattop. Once on the sidewalk, he stopped abruptly, only just realizing in his haste that he had absolutely no idea where Grubbie’s was. A bronzeblood walked by and he whirled around to face them, franticly asking them, “Where’s Grubbie’s?” 

“Uh, like, three blocks that way, then turn right,” they said, jabbing a thumb behind them over their shoulder. Xefros thanked them and dashed off, leaving the bronzeblood to stare after them bemusedly. He tore down the sidewalk as fast as his legs could carry him and turned around the third corner to see a smoking Zebruh on his back on the sidewalk with his palmhusk gripped tightly in one fist while Jaci giggled beside him. Xefros trotted up to them and placed a shaky hand on Jaci’s elbow, making her turn and smile brightly at him.

_ Gog, that smile _ . 

“Xefros!” she drawled. “How’d you get here so fast?”

“Uh,” he blushed and placed Byers back in her hood, “I ran.”

“Wow, you’re like, the Flash ‘r something.” Zebruh groaned on the ground and rubbed a claw over his face. Someone in a nearby alley sniggered loudly but was cut off suddenly by an audible smack, making Zebruh raise his thinkpan with a scowl on his face and a growl in his chug column as a small wisp of smoke curled over his horns. 

“Hey,” he shouted, “what do you think you’re doing!?” Apparently trapped, a figure stepped out of the shadows of the alley and into the light. At first, Xefros thought it was just a really tall troll, but then he realized it was actually two trolls, one of which was perched on top of a large backpack that the other was hefting. They were both goldbloods, and both looked rather scraggly, but one of them looked like they shouldn’t even be alive. Those dead, empty ganderbulbs that screamed voidrot spooked Xefros so much, he had to make himself look at the other one. His goggles were much more appealing. 

The one on the bottom readjusted his backpack, making the one on top clutch the bag to avoid falling, and sneered. “Lolololol, you bluebloods are so easy to fuck with!” Zebruh bristled and shook his palmhusk at them for a second before Goggles lazily pressed a button on their own palmhusk and Zebruh jerked as a surge of electricity practically exploded from his fist. Zebruh dropped again with a grunt, more smoke wafting up from his thinkpan, and groaned. The two trolls from the alley only laughed uproariously at his pain, high-fiving each other over Goggles’ shoulder. 

“Hey, uh, thanks.” Xefros flinched as their attention was drawn to him and the suspiciously silent Jaci. Voidrot’s ganderbulbs narrowed menacingly and Goggles’ grin curled upwards almost predaciously. Xefros gulped and  _ almost _ wished they had Zebruh instead of these two.

“Bold of you...” Voidrot mumbled, “to think we... were doing it… for you...” She chuckled lightly and wheezed, and Xefros could smell her rancid breath. Apparently Jaci could too because she not-so-subtly covered her nose with her hand and grimaced. Thankfully, they ignored her, probably because it was pretty obvious that she was higher than a talonbeast, and Goggles leaned over to pluck Zebruh’s palmhusk out of his fist, making Voidrot lurch again. Goggles popped the back casing off with his claws and tinkered with a few things before tossing it over his shoulder to Voidrot who… stuck it in her mouth. Huh.

“W-well..” Xefros fumbled for his words, feeling pretty confused at all that was happening. “Thanks anyway, but, uh… We’ve gotta go now, bye.” Grabbing Jaci by the shoulders, Xefros turned her down the street to scoot her away but his feet were suddenly stuck. Looking down, Xefros saw that his strutpods were surrounded by indigo and gold psionics, the same colors as... Goggles’ eyes… 

“Hey! L-let me go!” The goldblood stepped a little closer, his ears quirked in confusion or curiosity, Xefros couldn't tell.

Goggles circled around to Jaci’s side, psionics crackling around his horns, and leaned over them to slightly block their exit. “You’re kind of weird-looking,” he said. Voidrot reached down and pulled on Jaci’s hair, making Byers flap his wings at her while Jaci yelped and reached for the intruding claw.

Jaci blinked at him drowsily and batted Voidrot’s claw away weakly. “You’re pretty weird-looking yourself, but I wasn’t gonna say any-” She cut herself off with a yawn and blinked a few more times before speaking again, “-Anything.” Goggles seemed to think for a moment before his predatory grin stretched across his face again, showing off his sharp fangs as they glinted in the low neon lights above them.

“Hey, Folykl, you think the Heiress would like these normies?” Goggles said, lightly jostling his bag to get her attention.

Xefros blanched. The Heiress!?

Foylkl took the phone out of her mouth and twirled it in her fingers. “I dunno, Kuprum.” She took a second to breathe. “It’s not like… she’s just... gonna let you... see her anyway... though.” 

Kuprum pouted at that, but he was all smiling teeth a second later. “Whatever, I’m sure we can still get something for them somewhere. Hey Foly, you still in touch with that one teal?” 

Folykl grunted, “Who... ? That liblo…?” 

“Yeah!”

“Nah…” She took a deep breath. “I haven’t talked… to her in sweeps…” Folykl shrugged and stuck the palmhusk back in her mouth. Xefros thought Kuprum might have rolled his eyes but he couldn’t quite tell with those goggles. 

Kuprum tapped a claw to his chin in thought and mumbled to himself, pacing a little and making Folykl rock in the air, but still blocking their exit. Dang! This would have been a perfect time to escape if his strutpods weren’t trapped by psionics! Xefros turned back to Jaci, seeing her looking in confusion at the psionics that surrounded his strutpods. She was bending down, and it kind of looked like her fake horns were… Oh no! Xefros grabbed her by the shoulders and held her upright beside him, fixing her horns and making sure they were secure. Byers cooed at him from her hood and Xefros grabbed him and captchalogued him to keep him out of the way. It would be so much easier if he didn't cause trouble. Xefros turned to make sure the weren’t being watched and he saw Folykl mutter something to Kuprum, making Kuprum prick his ears up.

Powerful psionics engulfed the whole of Xefros and he watched in horror as Kuprum seemed to appear beside them, grinning widely again, his face lit by his own psionics in the darkness. He grabbed one of Jaci’s fake horns and watched her struggle against her own new prison of psionic power.

“Hey! Let me go!

Kuprum ignored her and tugged a little harder on her fake horn, pulling the wire off her head and he laughed as he turned it in his hands. 

“Lolololol! This is such a weak-ass disguise! Look at this, Foly!”

Folykl spat the palmhusk onto the pavement with a clatter and chuckled. “Yeah... give ‘em here…” She breathed deeply and grabbed them, bringing them closer to her face. “Good structure but… could have done better...  with the wire…” She chuckled weakly again and tossed the horns over her shoulder. 

“Lol, that’s weak. I expected more from you.”

Folykl shrugged.

“Alright!” Xefros struggled, trying to wrench himself out of Kuprum’s psionics, but it wasn’t much use. “Let us go you- you- you meanies!”

Kuprum laughed. “Mfw when a fuckin rustblood talks back, lololololol! Yeah, right!” He rolled his shoulders around flippantly and pointed at Jaci. “This one’s obviously an alien, something the Heiress will be fronds over horns for. Nah, you,” he said, bending down to look Jaci in the ganderbulbs, “you freaky cullbait nerdlord alien are coming with us!” 

Xefros wanted to struggle, but it really wasn’t any use. Jaci, however, didn’t really seem to understand that small but important fact and continued to squirm like an unruly wiggler. Folykl growled at her from the top of Kuprum’s sack, making Jaci flinch. 

“Now let’s go.” Kuprum’s psionics lifted Jaci into the air, making her jolt and let out a squawk.

“No! Xefros!”

The two trolls cackled and turned the corner of the alley, leaving Xefros stuck behind, still trapped in Kuprum’s psionics. 

“Wait! Rrrrg!” Despite what he knew, he struggled again, throwing himself around as best he could in the limited range of the psionics. A few seconds later, the psionics dissipated and Xefros dropped to the ground with a yelp. Panicking, he scrambled out of the alley and started to take off in the direction that he knew they left in, but what was he going to do to get Jaci back? Then he remembered leaving Bambi in that refuse bin a block away from the respitehive. Maybe it could help! It certainly saw Jaci as its new charge, surely it would do everything it could to get her back? 

Xefros ran between the alleys towards the respitehive and turned the final corner to see Bambi struggling to free itself from the “door” of the refuse bin. Xefros held the lid up for it so it could crawl out and it shook its head, pawing a little at its nose. Xefros stroked it a couple times on the neck before crawling on and taking off in the direction he had just come, going significantly faster than before. Suddenly, Bambi stopped and held its head high, its small ears swiveling and its nose twitching.

Xefros gently stroked the back of Bambi’s neck before it took off again, veering to the right and breaking across a street, leaping between scuttlebuggies and a few trolls who yelled after them. In a flash, they were back in an alley, brick and mortar whizzing by them before Bambi suddenly stopped again, this time in a place where Xefros could hear what it was following, too: the faintest sound of Jaci yelling at her captors. Xefros gasped as Bambi broke into a sprint again, dodging refuse bins and heaps of trash before seeing the bright pink pack with Folykl swaying in the air on top of it. 

Bambi pounced with all its might, knocking Xefros off its back but also knocking Zolykl off Kuprum’s pack, sending them both flying through the air a few feet before crashing into some trash piled up by the wall.

“Kuprum!” Folykl shouted at her… companion and fumbled blindly toward him, splaying out her hands and feeling along the ground in his general direction. Kuprum’s psionics flashed as he struggled with Bambi on top of him, making him drop Jaci to the ground in his lack of concentration. Somehow, the flash of psionics drew Folykl to him, leaving Jaci and Xefros dazed on the ground while Bambi continued to claw at Kuprum. Xefros had a feeling he knew what was coming next, he’d seen a few goldbloods in his neighborhood after all, and tried to move toward Jaci to shield her from what would surely come next.

Bambi roared in Kuprum’s face, but there wasn’t any explosion like he was expecting. Instead, Xefros opened his eyes to see Kuprum’s psionics surging up from his horns and around Folykl’s arms where they just… disappeared. Xefros put his hand on Jaci’s shoulder and gently shook her as he watched Kuprum struggle against Folykl’s now vice-like grip on his shoulders, resulting in him releasing even more psionic energy that seemed to just dissipate. 

This was weird--really weird, and it certainly wasn’t safe. They needed to get out of here. Jaci sat up on her knees and steadied herself on Xefros’ shoulder before seeing the commotion around her and freezing against Xefros. They shared a fear-filled look and got up to run out of the alley but Jaci stopped and whispered a frantic, “What about Bambi?!” in his hearing canal. 

“It’ll come when it sees you leaving,” but Xefros wasn’t sure.

Together, they scampered out of the alley, eager to leave in case Kuprum really  _ did _ explode. They ran a couple of blocks, hearing a few lingering growls and yells before a particularly loud roar echoed through the alleys, obviously from Bambi, followed by the telltale fizzling of psionics. Xefros and Jaci stopped and turned to where they’d come and looked on in hope of seeing Dammek’s lusus. Jaci clung to his strength noodles and Xefros could feel her shaking just a bit. After a few seconds though, Bambi pulled itself out from around the corner, some of it’s fur singed, but otherwise looking pretty ok. Jaci ran forward to stroke its neck and face, cooing at it quietly before Xefros grabbed her hand and started leading them all away from the alley. 

This wasn’t a safe place to be.

They needed to get out of here.

They needed shelter.

They needed food.

They needed money.

Xefros sighed as he looked around a corner, debating on whether or not it would be safer to take to the streets where there was more space to run or safer to keep to the shadows and close quarters of the alleys. Jaci’s disguise was messed up and they still had to keep Bambi hidden from the drones. Xefros couldn’t fit it in his syladex and he assumed Jaci couldn’t since she hadn’t done that yet. Xefros stopped for a moment to hold his head in his hands. Gog! This was such a mess!

He sobbed and then felt a warmth on his shoulder. Cooler than himself, but still warm. Jaci was gently cupping his shoulder with her hand, smiling kindly and sorrowfully at him. It was a simple gesture, but enough to help him ground himself and his emotions. This time, he didn’t shrug away when she gave him a hug. Dammek might be his moirail, but Jaci was here now and he wasn’t.

He cried into her shoulder as the scuttlebuggies grumbled past on the street, echoing through the dank alleys that seemed to protect them, yet trap them at the same time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, feel free to tell me what trolls you'd like to see soon! I've got Polypa and Tegiri in the lineup right now and I plan on adding some Elwurd or Lynera soon! You can also find me on Tumblr at https://the-weird-one-won.tumblr.com or on Twitter as @TheWeirdOne7!


	8. Drones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who hasn't updated in over two months
> 
> Thank you to those who leave comments, it really helps!

“Hey, hey it’s alright, Xefros, ”you lightly patted your new friend on the shoulder, now realizing that this was apparently very “pale,” but Xefros seemed to accept it. 

“No, no it’s not,” he sobbed into your shoulder. “We’re not okay…” A large, grating and metallic buzz zoomed over them and Xefros immediately flinched, drawing away from the hug with a sharp gasp.

“Jaci, we need to leave—right now.” His eyes were tear-stained, but there was a desperate seriousness in his cracking voice that screamed urgency. He grabbed your hand and started tugging you through the alleys, tripping over a few tin cans and bottles. You didn’t really know what the big problem was, but you figured it has something to do with his frantic mumbling about “drones” and “the heiress.” You followed as best you could, trying your best to keep up with his strong legs, but you had difficulty. Bambi kept their best to chase after you, but they started falling a little behind.

“Xefros, what’s going on?!”

“We’re running!”

“I can see that!” You dodged a soggy box and ducked under a steaming pipe, almost hitting your head. The metallic rumbling was growing louder, echoing through the connecting alleys and shaking you to your core. You could hear the clanging of Bambi behind you, doing their best to keep up with the pair of you in the twisting path Xefros was dragging you through. The thrumming was so loud now, closer to a roar than the previous buzz.

A hulking, metal  _ thing _ suddenly landed in the alley in front of the two of you, making the ground shake with its impact. It was large and imposing, with sharp metal spikes sticking out from its shoulders and an angry expression painted on its face. You felt your face pale at the sheer size of the thing; you were only as tall as its knee joint! Xefros skidded to a halt and you bumped into him just before he took a sharp turn to the left and continued running, dragging you along with him. This alley was smaller, too small for that thing to fit through, and you felt a small wisp of relief that was dashed to the grimy concrete when a plasma shot suddenly exploded to your left. You jumped over the crate that was knocked over by the blast and screamed. Xefros slowed a little and looked back at you to check on you, his own eyes wide with panic and fear, but you shoved him forward with a nod.

“Go—go!”

You could no longer hear Bambi behind you, and you didn’t want to look back for them. Together, you reached the other end of the alley and slipped between two dumpsters in a back doorway. You heaved air through your lungs, trying to catch your breath as more plasma shots fired around you. One hit the dumpster on your right and made Xefros lurch forward against the force, making him grimace. 

“Are you okay?” You placed a hand on his shoulder and searched his eyes for confirmation, receiving a hard nod in return. Another Plasma shot rocked the dumpster on your other side, jarring you and making you gasp. Xefros quickly looked up at you in worry but you waved it off.

“What do we do now, Xefros?”

Xefros looked at you, his eyes wide with fear, but otherwise blank. He looked lost, and you didn’t know how to help. It hurt.

“We, uh… I-I-I don’t know, I just…” He exhaled and looked at you, clearly pained. More shots crisscrossed the alley as those things stomped around outside the narrow alley you were cowering in. You scooted a little closer to him and drew your knees up to your chest, laying your crossed arms over them as you leaned against his side. You felt him flinch, but he soon placed his arm around your shoulders. 

Another blast rocked the dumpster on your left but you squeezed your eyes shut. This was probably where you were going to die. Right here, in the arms of an alien, on an alien planet, blasted or crushed to death by some alien robots all because you stupid father was never around to protect you from creepy monsters! And Jude! Oh, your baby brother, you didn’t even get to say goodbye! You felt your eyes well with tears and you sobbed into the crook of your elbow.

The door behind you thumped into your back and you jumped to attention, whipping your head around to see someone force the door open. They had messy, shoulder-length hair and most of their bare skin was wrapped in cloth bandages, including most of their face. They turned to Xefros.

“You Tritoh?” It was a little hard to hear them behind the wraps and over the din of the plasma blasts, but Xefros nodded shakily. “Come with me,” they grabbed Xefros’ wrist and hesitated before grabbing yours as well and pulled you through the door into the building. You wiped your eyes with your sleeve and looked around in the dim light, flinching at the blasts that shook some dust from the ceiling. You seemed to be in the kitchen of a closed restaurant. “You’re wanted.” Xefros paled a bit and tried to twist his wrist out of their grip but they released you to pull down the wraps on their face, revealing themselves to be a girl with a few warbled scars on her face. 

“Not like that, Tyzias wants you.” Xefros looked at her, no longer struggling, but very confused. A loud boom sounded outside the building and you all flinched. She released Xefros and turned back to the two of you. “Come on, it’s not safe here.”

“What about Bambi?” You looked to Xefros and he looked to the mystery troll.

“Who, your grimalkin? I’ve already taken care of them.” She closed her eyes and waved away the question unworriedly.

You exchanged a look with Xefros, at a loss of what to do. He turtled his neck into his shoulders and kind of… Whined?

“Where are we going?”

“Back to Outglut, Tyzias is waiting for you at our meeting spot to talk to you in a more secure location.” The mystery troll rewrapped the cloth on her right hand as she spoke, putting off an air of calm despite the ruckus outside.

You looked again to Xefros who looked very confused but pretty desperate.

“Can you get us there safely?” he asked, his voice shaky. She finished wrapping all the way up to her elbow and nodded firmly, her face serious and stern.

Xefros looked back at you and you nodded.

“... Okay, what do we do?”

She wrapped her face back up, leaving one eye out in the open. “You follow me— _ closely. _ I won’t fight a drone for you, but I’ll wait a little if you fall behind.”

You and Xefros nodded in understanding.

“Good.” She started to lead you through the counters but she stopped and turned back to you, “By the way, my name’s Polypa.” Then, she turned on her toes and started weaving through the counters towards a walk-in cooler that was hanging open, its door hanging from only one hinge. As you followed, you could see a boot print on the inside where you supposed Polypa had kicked it. Inside were towers of shelving, all of it filled with different kinds of alien, vegetable-looking things. She lifted up a sewer cover in the middle of the room and propped it up on her knee as she beckoned the two of you closer. 

Xefros put a hand in front of you and hesitantly slipped down in front of you, shaking a bit of rust from his hand after touching the top rung. He grimaced a little but he steadily lowered to the bottom of the ladder before calling up to you, “It’s okay, Jaci, come on down.”

You looked to Polypa who offered you a little nod and tossed her head a little in the direction of the hole. A loud boom shook the building and you jumped. 

“Hurry!” Polypa grabbed your wrist and pulled you forward to the grate, supporting you as you started climbing downward. She followed as soon as there was enough room and replaced the cover. “Make sure to look down, there’s rust on these rungs and you don’t want that in your eyes.”

You followed her instructions and looked downwards into the darkness, barely able to make out Xefros lifting up his arms to catch you if you fell. You felt his hands on the back of your arms as you touched the ground. Water ran somewhere, and by the smell, you assumed this was a sewer. You heard Polypa’s feet touch the ground and saw an extra dark shadow move past you. Or maybe it was closer to you? You couldn’t really tell, it was so dark.

“Now what?” you asked.

“Now you follow me, and quickly.”

You sensed some movement and saw some moving shadows, but now that the cover was sealing away the sparse light from before, you just couldn’t see much.

You tried to start walking, but you were grabbed by two sets of hands and stopped from moving.

“What are you doing?!” Polypa whispered frantically.

“Wha-” You were turned around on your heels and given a shake on the shoulders.

You could see the hint of angry yellow eyes in front of your own and you widened your eyes to make them out. “I’m trying to walk, what-”

A hand pushed you back and you stumbled into Xefros. “You almost fell right off the ledge into the water! What the hell?”

“Oh, I didn’t know.” You felt your face burn in embarrassment, but you were distracted by another boom that made the walls around you rumble. Some dirt fell on your face.

“... Can you not see?” That was Xefros, still holding your arms from behind you. 

“You guys can?”

There was a little silence before Polypa sighed, followed by the tell-tale clap of skin on skin.

“Tritoh, hold onto her—carry her if you have to. Let’s go.” You heard some footfalls echo around you and Xefros’ hands gently pushed you forward. You started walking blindly, hearing the crunch of grit underfoot mingling with the quieting booms above your heads. No one spoke, and you figured it was because they were as stressed as you were. Just once, you would like to go a day or two without running for your life. Xefros’ hands continued to gently guide you along the path and you only sometimes tripped over a rock when he forgot to warn you ahead of time. By the sound of Polypa’s breath, you guessed that she was getting a little impatient, and you didn’t blame her. She was probably only here to get her money, and you being a nearly helpless alien that needed assistance just to walk didn’t help matters much.

Eventually, the sounds of those metal monsters died away and were replaced by the normal car noises that one would expect when in the sewers under a city. “Okay, here we are,” Polypa muttered, mostly to herself. Xefros stopped pushing you forward and dropped one of his hands. The shadow’s of your companions flitted around and then a grating noise rang out through the tunnel, much like another manhole cover being moved. Xefros’ other hand slid down from your upper arm to your hand, pulled you forward, and placed your hand on what you figured was the rung of a ladder.

“I’ll be right behind you,” he said, and you could clearly imagine his typical nervous smile. 

You smiled, “Thank you,” and started climbing, making sure to look down to avoid getting any of the grit showering down from Polypa’s feet in your eyes. Polypa grabbed your hand and pulled you out onto some concrete. Thankfully, you could see now with the help of some neon sighs overhead. Actually, they looked rather familiar…

Xefros popped his head out of the sewer and immediately looked up at the signs and cocked his head. “Hey, isn’t this where we hid Bambi?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Polypa mumbled. She ran to the edge of the alley and peeked around the corner. “Ok, here it comes.”

“Here comes what?” you asked. A teal car-looking thing rolled up to the opening of the alley and rolled one window down. Inside was another troll with messy hair and a tired expression on her face.

“Get in,” she said plainly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, let me know which trolls you'd like to see soon so I can work them into the story! Thank you!


End file.
